On Saturday 28^th June at 00.20 the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard were requested by Ennistymon Gardaí to search for a person missing at the Cliffs of Moher. Teams assembled and searched from Aill na Searach to Hags Head and were assisted by Shannon based Irish Coast Guard Helicopter. The search was stood down at 03-00 until first light. At 05.30 the casualty was sighted at the base of the cliffs. The Doolin Coast Guard boat was launched and went to the scene, but, due to sea conditions, a recovery from the sea was not possible. A large scale recovery then commenced. It was decided that two climbers would descend the 600 ft cliff to recover the casualty. The operation took six hours to extract the casualty from the base of the cliffs. He was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor. Doolin Coast Guard Unit was greatly assisted by Killaloe and Kilkee Coast Guard Units, the Civil Defence and Gardaí, over sixty rescue personnel were involved in the operation. By 19.00 the deceased was taken from the cliffs by an awaiting ambulance.

Incident 19/08

The unit was tasked today to conduct a search for a missing person in the Tra Leathan area of Doolin. The area was searched by three shoreline search teams and Rescue 115 (Helicopter) . The search was later called off after the person was located safely elsewhere.

Incident 18/08

In their last week of term, we have visited three schools in the county: Tulla National School, Quin National School and Holy Family School, Ennis. Members of the Doolin and Killaloe units of the Irish Coast Guard were on hand to show the children our rescue equipment, which included a D Class boat, mobile command trailer, underwater camera, climbing equipment, first aid kit and search gear. The children also watched a short audiovisual presentation which included safety messages for those taking to the water or visiting mountainous areas such as the Burren. By the end of the visits, nearly 1000 children had taken part.

We have a new experimental Map ‘Mashup’ displaying aggregated RSS Feeds from Doolin unit, other Coast Guard blogs and external SAR related organisations. These feeds are mashed with google maps to display their respective event data geographically. Visit the map on our website HERE

Ennistymon Gardaí tasked Doolin Coast Guard Unit at 01:20hrs this morning to assist with a search for a missing man at Ballyheragh, Liscannor. While en-route to the incident, Gardaí informed the officer in charge, that the casualty had been located at the base of a 40 meter cliff in that area. Some team members descended the cliff and were preparing for the evacuation of the casualty when the Shannon based Coast Guard Helicopter arrived on scene. With an in-coming tide it was decided that the helicopter should be used to evacuate the casualty.
In poor light, and working close to the cliff face, the crew of Rescue 115 had to exercise caution to safely carry out the winching operation. With the casualty on board the aircraft they returned to Shannon Airport, a doctor and H.S.E. Paramedics pronounced the man as D.O.A. The Doolin Coast Guard stood down at 04:52hrs

Incident 17/08

UPDATE: 19 June ’08

The unit assembled this morning at 07:00hrs for a shoreline search of the cliffs of Moher area. Early on in the search, a search team established a visual contact of the casualty in a large cave. Due to the sea state, a recovery attempt would not be attempted until 12:30 hrs [low tide] which may afford a better ‘weather window’. In slightly improved conditions, at low tide, a successful attempt was made to recover the body which was taken to Doolin Pier and handed over to attending Gardaí.

 Incident 16/08